Someone New to Love
by Freida Right
Summary: FFIV. Bedridden in Troia, Edward continues to cope with his ijuries and loss, and learns to love again. Edward/OC. Hints at Final Fantasy Four-and-a-Half. Enjoy!
1. Proluge

Someone New to Love

I felt bad for Edaward, because he lost his true love. So, I'm writting this to console myself. Edward finds a new special girl durring his recovery in Troia; she just so happens to be his nurse. It has a prologue, but it will really pick up when Cecil, Cid, Yang, and Tellah arrive in Troia. You'll see what I mean soon. I promise!

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Prologue

_I wasn't quite sure where I was. I could feel something coarse beneath me, and then something cool and wet rushed up around my legs. I realized that I must be on a beach, and that (miraculously) I'd surrvived the shipwreck._

_The shipwreck brought all sorts of horrible thoughts into my head. What had happened to the others? Had any of them survived the leviathan's attack? And were was I now? How long had it been since I lost consiousness? My last memory was hearing Cecil's voice, calling to me to help him. But I was hidding; I was too scared to do anything. I thought bitterly of Rydia. Why... Why hadn't I done something to help her? She was almost certain to have drowned by now._

_But, what if Yang did save her from the monster? It could be that they were both okay. I felt a little hope for them; but it quickly disolved when I remembered that that outcome was highly doubtful. I forced myself to think of something else. I carefully opened my eyes. It was sometime at night, for the sky was a deep blue and spotted with a smattering of stars. I tried to sit up, but I couldn't. Instead I felt a stabbing pain in my side and in my arms. I can't quite remember if I cried out or something, but I guess I did because I heard someone close by gasp and come running over._

_The next thing I knew, there was a woman standing over me. I couldn't quite tell what she looked like in the dark, but I could tell that her hair came down past her shoulders, that she had a basket on one hooked arm, and that she was wearing a long, purple dress. Her face was almost to dim to see, but that was okay: I'd being seeing much more of her in the days to come._

_"Emore!" She called. "Emore, come here quick!" Another woman, obviously much older, came running up. I assumed that she was Emore, and I later found out that I was right. She looked down the beach for a moment, and said in a kind, but cracked, voice, "Looks like this one's been in a shipwreck of some kind." I guess that some of the wreckage was scattered along the beach._

_And then, I slipped out of consiousness again. The last thing that I remember of that fateful night was the first woman asking, "So what do we do?"_


	2. Alara

Chapter 1: Alara

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No one was quite sure about Cecil's plan. Kain, the traitor, had made a proposition for them: bring the earth crystal from Troia to Golbez, and they'd release Rosa in exchange. Cid and Yang were just as eager as Cecil to get her back (Tellah was too, but he'd never met Rosa before, and, unfortunately, never would), but stealing Troia's crystal? There had to be some other way. None the less, Cecil told Cid to fly the party of four to Troia.

"Surely, you don't mean to do as he says?" Yang protested.

"No, we're going to protect it. I've already taken _one_ crystal; I'm not doing that again," Cecil explained. Finally, after a brief argument with Cid and Tellah, they were flying to Troia; completely unaware of the odd twist that fate had in store for them.

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After a day's filght, they landed _The Enterprise_ just outside of Troia and huried to the castle. They quickly explained their visit to the guard at the gate, and he ushered them inside. He led them to to the inn, and returned to his post. As soon as they had a room, they went to the pub for dinner. Everyone tried not to notice that Cecil didn't eat that much, but they didn't say anything.

After a while, a pretty young girl and an older woman walked into the pub. The old woman carried a small basket in the crook of one arm, and the girl had a handful of gil. She looked about Rosa's age (19, if you don't know). She wore a light pruple dress, and her long aruburn hair was curly and tied loosely back with a white ribbon. The older one was a little shorter than the girl, and wore a yellow dress. Her silvery hair, which still had touches of brown, was tied in a firm knot at the nape of her neck.

"Pay me no mind," The old one said, setting the basket on the counter. "Leave it all to Alara." She turned to the girl and said "I'll be in the infirmery on the other end of the castle."

"Emore, I don't know. Are you sure I'm ready?" The girl asked nervously. "I'm terrible with lists, you know."

"You'll make me proud, Alara. You've never let me down," Emore, the castle healer said to her up-and-coming student, and she left.

The girl, Alara, handed the man on the other side of the counter a list, along with her gil. The man quickly filled Alara's basket, but said to her, "You're three gil short of this order, Larie."

Alara sighed, and searched her pockets unsuccessfully for three more coins. Cecil, who'd been listening, got up and handed Alara three of his own gil. He could see that her order (healing items and some strange looking plants) was extremely important.

"Thank you very much, sir," Alara said sweetly.

"Don't mention it. I like to think I do something nice for somebody, every now and then," Cecil said bleakly and sat back down.

"So, Larie," The man at the counter said ("Larie" was Alara's nickname), "How's your patient mending?"

"Still no improvement. His constitution isn't so great. But he finally woke up long enough to tell me a little bit about himself," Alara explained. "He said that his name is Edward, and that he's the prince of Damcyan," She said.

Cecil and Tellah looked up from their plates, and Yang choked on his his drink.

"Where is he?" Cecil asked eagerly.

"Why? Do you know him?" Alara asked.

"We thought he died in a shipwreck last month," Yang explained, still coughing.

Alara looked surprised, but she took her basket off the counter and said, "If you're done with dinner, you can come and see him." Everyone jumpped up and followed Alara down the hall; even Cid, even though he didn't really know who everyone was talking about.

Rounding a turn, Alara opened the first door she came to and walked in. The others followed her in, noticing how the room smelled rather strongly of chamomlie, mint, ethers and potions. There were about five beds lined up against the back wall, but only one of them was occupied. Alara set her basket down on a counter and walked over to the bed. She whispered something to her patient, who then began asking, "Where? Let me see them, please."

"Be still. You're getting too excited," Alara said to him. Turning back to the party, she said, "He can't handle all this excitment right now. Maybe you should come another time."

But her patient grabbed her by the arm and said quickly "No. I'm fine. I'm okay. Bring them to me, please." Alara still looked reluctant, but she motioned to the party to come over.

Cecil and Tellah reached the bed first. Edward's state shocked them both. His face was covered in painful looking bruises, and both his arms were broken. His brown eyes were glassy with fatigue, but they came back to life when he saw the two figures hoovering over him. He was slightly surprised to recognize Cecil right away, even though he'd only seen his face once or twice (Cecil had the kind of face that one doesn't forget easily). But he cringed slightly when he saw Tellah there too; how could Edward forget the sage?

"I'm sorry," He whispered to Tellah, not knowing what else to say.

"Think not on that. You need your rest," Tellah commanded, knowing what Edward ment; now wasn't the time to bring up Anna's death, even if it still wieghed heavily on both their minds.

"We're so relieved that you survived the shipwreck," Cecil said after a pause. Edward ventured a small simle.

"We thought you were dead for sure," Yang said, coming over (he'd taken his time in walking over).

"Yang! You're alrigh too!" Edward exclaimed, almost trying to sit up again, and then thinking better of it. "So, we've all aurrvived the shipwreck," Edward concluded, feeling ever so relieved. "Where's Rydia?" He asked, glancing around and feeling nervousness come creeping back in.

Yang hung his head and said slowly, "I tried... I almost had her... I..." He turned around, rubbed his eyes, and mummbled, "Drat; there must still be sea-salt in my eyes."

There was an uncomfortable pause. "Not Rydia..." Edward breathed. He felt like crying, but he didn't. Not while Tellah was here. And besides, Rydia had been the one who taught him that there was a time for tears, and a time for action. He had time to cry for his dear little friend later. Right now, there things he needed to know from his friends.

"Is Rosa okay?" He asked cautiously.

"Kain made a deal with us," Cecil explained. "He said that if we bring him Troia's crystal, he'd release Rosa."

Alara's eyes went wide with horror. "You wouldn't!" She cried.

"We're not. If we don't get it, Kain'll come to get it himself. We're guarding it while we think of a plan," Cecil explained.

"There's nothing to guard," Alara informed sadly. "The crystal was stolen by a dark elf last month."

"Then we should all go and get it!" Cid suggested, speaking for the first time on the other side of the room. Edward tried to see over the bed stand who was talking without moving very much, but failed.

"Cid, come over here," Cecil called, and Cid strode over to the bed.

He leaned against the bed post, grinned, and said loudly, but happilly, "I've heard good things about you, kid. Heard that you took mighty good care of Cecil and Rosa while they were gone."

"Cid?" Edward asked. "Cid the engineer?"

"Yup. That's me!" Cid said proudly.

"So... that must mean... you've got the ariship?" Edward asked excitedly. The party nodded.

"We flew here on it," Yang commented. Edward sighed; at least one thing had gone right so far.

"So, you plan to get the earth crystal from the drak elf?" He asked.

"We came here to protect the crystal; we have to get it back," Cecil said firmly, but rather shakily. He obviously knew that this would be a daunting task.

Edward thought for a minute about it and said to Alara, "Look in my bag and bring me the first harp that you find." Alara went to a shelf nearby and took down a small draw-string bag. After rummaging around through everything else inside it, she produced a rather plain looking harp and brought it to Edward. He looked it over carefully and handed it to Cecil.

"What is it?" Cecil asked.

"It's the only way I can help you now. Take that harp with you into the dark elf's cave, and it'll come in handy; I'm sure," Edward explained. Cecil examined it, a little confused over how helpful a harp could be, and thanked his friend for the help.

Alara looked around the room and finally said to Edward, "I think you should rest now. You should have been sleeping all this time, and I'm sure you want to get better." Edward gave his nurse a sheepish look, but said nothing.

"I understand what you mean," Tellah said and began herding the party out of the room with a quick good-bye to Edward. Alara followed them out.

Outside, Yang, Cid, and Tellah were turning to go back to the inn, but Cecil hung back. "Are you coming, Cecil?" Yang called over his shoulder.

"I was going to look around for a while. I'll be back later," Cecil said casually, leaning against the wall.

"Suit yourself," Yang said, and went to catch up with the other party members. Cecil watched them dissapear around the corner, and began absent-mindedly rubbing his hand arcoss the odd little harp in his hand. Alara tugged on his sleeve and he looked up (or, rather down) at the girl.

"If you're going after the dark elf, you should know that he's weak against metalic weapons," She said.

"Then this fight should go well," Cecil said, sounding relieved.

"_But_ he's put up a magnetic field around his cave. You won't be able to use metalic weapons or wear metal armor," She added.

Cecil looked down at the harp, sighed saddly, and nodded. "Thank you for the tip, ma'am," He said.

"Call me Alara, like everyone else, sir," She said sweetly.

"You can call _me_ Cecil, like everyone else," Cecil said, managing to smile at her. She smiled back, though she senced that he was distressed and she probably couldn't help.

"You seem troubled," She said, leaning against the wall.

"I've got a lot on my mind right now," Cecil said quietly, stroking the harp again.

"Does it have anything to do with the two women that you were speaking of before?" Alara asked.

"Rydia and Rosa? Yes, it's them," He said.

"Want to talk about it?" Alara asked, sounding a bit like a mental-case worker. Cecil sighed and launched into his story.

"We lost Rydia on the same shipwreck that Edward was on. Rosa was kiddnaped a few days before that," Cecil explained.

"I'm sorry. I hope you can think of a way to save Rosa," Alara said.

"I'm worried there might not be another way to save her..." Cecil said, trailing off. Alara could tell that there was a lot this blonde knight had on his chest, but that he was having difficulty talking about it. She decided to try again later.

"Well, I'm sorry about your loss. I do hope that you come up with something," Alara said, and she returned to the infirmery.

"Yeah, me too. I love Rosa so much. If anything were to happen to her, I don't know if I'd be able to go on," Cecil said to the air when Alara was gone.

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_Sometimes, I lie awake, thinking about Anna. I miss her terribley. I wish she were back here, with me. Vengance was never my thing, really, but I've strongly considered it on her part. You can't just tear a love like that apart; it's so wrong... And it causes such destruction. _

_But being as broken as I am has also given me time to think over what Anna said to me when I saw her spirit in Kaipo. She said, "Love the people as you loved me", remember? Er... well, I don't really excpect you to remember that; it's not like you were _there_. But anyways, I've thought pretty deeply about that. Perhaps she meant for me to find someone new to really love at the same time?_

_I hope so; I'm falling in love with Alara..._


	3. The Next Morning

Chapter 2: The Next Morning...

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The plan was to embark on the quest for the dark elf three days later once everyone was rested and supplied (and once Cecil had gotten some of his nerves in order). On the first morning of that wait there was a knock on the door to the room where the party was staying. Yang answered the door and found Alara standing in front of him.

"Oh. Hello," He said cheerfully.

Alara smiled back and asked, "Is Cecil around?"

"I'm here," Cecil called and appeared in the doorway.

"One of our nobles would like to have a word with you," She announced.

Tellah looked confused. "Why only him?" He asked suspiciously.

"They only wanted to see Cecil. They were curious about him and what kind of knight he is," She explained.

"He's a paladin. Now be on your way, child," Tellah said rudely.

"Tellah! Be nice," Cecil shot back. Tellah looked ready to say something else smart, but he didn't. Instead he sat on the bed and pouted.

"I'm going with Alara. I'll be back later," Cecil said quckly, and left before anybody could say anything.

"Follow me," Alara instructed. Cecil fell in behind her and followed her down the hall. Once they were out of view of the inn, she stopped and said, "I should tell you that I'm taking you to see Edward."

"I thought I was going to see one of your leaders," Cecil said, confused once again.

"I know. Edward wanted to see you (and _just_ you), but I thought that the others might get upset if they knew that he only wanted to see you. So, since Edward's still a prince, I sort of--"

"Disguised that fact without lying," Cecil finished for her. "Very clever."

Alara blushed, but they continued down the hall.

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As they entered the infirmery, the sent of curative herbs and healing items (which was stronger than it was before) caused Cecil's eyes to water slightly, but he could see that Edward was sitting up now.

"I was wrong about you and your friends upseting him too much. Your visit yesterday improved his health drasticly," She said.

"I feel so much better today!" Edward said happily from across the room. He was actually smiling now. Cecil hadn't seen Edward smile since Rosa recovered from her case of desert fever.

"Just don't move around too much. I'll let myself out," Alara said and walked out.

Cecil walked over to the bed post and asked, "So, you're feeling that much better, eh?"

Edward nodded, but added sadly, "I've been doing a lot of thinking; mostly about Anna and Rydia." Cecil had hoped Edward wouldn't bring up that subject, but he knew he probably would. So here it was.

Cecil winced and said grimly, "I haven't slept well a lot of the time since I found out."

"About Rydia? I know," Edward said. "I sort of looked at her as a little sister. I tried to set a good example for her, and make her happy. To think that I was too cowardly to save the child I saw as my sister... It makes me so angry with myeslf," He said stiffly.

"Let's change the subject," Cecil suggested. Edward nodded. "What do you think of Troia?" Cecil asked.

"It's pretty interesting. The rulers here are all women; they believe that females are more civilized rulers than men," Edward explained. "But, at the same time, they're very tough people. Many people think that women are weaklings, but they really aren't unless you make them be. It's a good city."

"So, like it here?" Cecil asked. Edward nodded.

"I do," He said.

"And Alara's a good doctor?" Cecil asked.

"She's still a nurse; but she's being trained. She's also a white mage, you know," Edward explained.

"She seems like a good person," Cecil commented.

"I know," Edward put in. "She's smart, and kind, and she does things without expecting something in return," He added.

"She's very clever too," Cecil said, looking absentmindedly back at the door.

"I'm going to ask her to marry me when I'm healed," Edward said quickly. Cecil turned back and stared at his friend with a very shocked look on his face.

"_Don't tell Tellah_," Edward added pleadingly.

"But," Cecil said, "I though that you said--"

"Forget what I said," Edward cutted him off. "That morning in Damcyn, I was angry and upset. Do you remember that night in Kaipo, when I saw Anna?" He asked. Cecil nodded; he'd watched the whole thing from the porch, even if it had looked like Edward had been speaking to the air. "Before she left, she told me to love the people as I loved her. I thought about that and, perhaps she meant for me to find someone new to love. After thinking, it seems unwise to keep dwelling on a lost love; even if she was your whole world... We must move on when we lose something," He explained.

"So, you think that Alara's the one?" Cecil asked.

"Yes. I do," Edward said.

"You're making that decission a bit early, aren't you? Alara said that the first time you spoke clearly was yesterday evening," Cecil pointed out.

"Well, it goes like this," Edward said. "When I fell into the water, some current apparently carried to a river nearby and carried me upstream. When I first came to, I though that I was on a beach, but I was on the bank of the river. Alara was out with her teacher, Emore, and they found me. Then I went out again; but the first thing that I saw, aside from the sky, was Alara. The next few times I woke up, Alara was there. I just... sort of... had a feeling about her," He explained.

Cecil cocked an eyebrow. He didn't really think that these few encounters with Alara were enough to forge a strong relationship. "You're _sure_about this?" Cecil asked.

"Yeah," Edward said stubornly. Cecil sighed and said,

"Think about this- I mean _really_ think about it -before you decide anything."

"I will," Edward said, and then added, "_Please _don't tell Tellah. If he found out, he might hurt me."

Cecil understood what he meant. "It's between you, me, and the bed-post," He said, holding up his right hand.

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_I'll admit it: I didn't want to think about the matter, like Cecil asked me to. But I quickly began to think about it anyway, because I've been thinking about things that I don't want to think about lately. Like Anna; I tried to clear my mind of her death and not think much about it. But alas: I think about her all the time._

_So, at any rate, I thought long and hard about what Cecil said, about my decission to marry Alara being a bit rash. After a while, I thought that, maybe (_maybe_ mind you), the choice was a little quickly made. So, I resolved to sleep on it. _

_In the morning, when I woke up, I decided to use my spare time to get to know Alara better. Then I'd chose what to do next..._


	4. Facing the Music

Heya. Sorry it's been a while. I've been at my grandmother's house for the last few weeks, and therefore couldn't write this. I've put up another fic though. It's called "Panic", and it's an EdgexRydia story. But, anywho, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

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Facing the music

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Three days later, the party left Troia for the cave of the Dark Elf. It was, by no means, an easy trip. Even though there was a chocobo forest located conveniently to the north, it took two days to get there, and half a day to fly to the island on which the cave was located. And with all the monster battles between, it took a while. By the time they'd finally gotten to the cave everyone's nerves were gone.

"Someone remind me _why_we are doing this again," Tellah said gruffly.

"Because we need to get the crystal," Yang said flatly.

"And why did we need the crystal?" Tellah asked.

"So that it will be safe and Kain won't get it," Cecil explained, wishing that Tellah wouldn't talk anymore.

Tellah didn't stop talking; instead he began complaining about various things such as the weather being too hot, the fire not being high enough, and that they ought to go back to Troia on account that this mission was folly. Cecil vaguely wondered if this was how all old men used their time. He cringed at the thought that this might happen to himself later.

Finally, Cid couldn't take it anymore and yelled at Tellah, "Look, just _stop_talking! We've got a hell of a lot of walking to do tomorrow and we'll never be able to sleep if you don't stop talking!" Then he picked up a rock and chucked it Tellah's head before storming away. That was the last exchange of words that passed between them for the rest of that night.

Cecil hoped that things would shape up. The looming fight wouldn't go so well if they were all fighting with each other. And he doubted that Edward's harp would do them much good. What good would a simple harp do?

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Back in Troia, Edward was still contemplating the conversation that he'd had with Cecil a few days earlier (you know, the one about marrying Alara). He'd resolved to follow Cecil's advise about think really hard before he made such a commitment, and decided that he'd try and get to know Alara better. He had a lot of time for that, since he was still bed-ridden, and it didn't look like he'd be going anywhere for a while.

On the fifth day after the party had left, Alara came in (as usual) and began her work. It generally consisted of brewing potions, making healing teas, and looking after her patient, but when she had time she'd sit down and talk with him. On that particular day she asked him about the harp that he'd sent Cecil away with.

"What does it do?" She asked.

"It does something _very_ special and rather difficult to do. Only a skilled bard can do it properly," Edward explained.

"What is it?" Alara asked, eager to see what this event was.

"You'll see it when t happens. I predict that you'll see it within the week, actually..." Edward said slowly. "I'd be more specific, but I can't really describe it."

Alara didn't press him further about the matter. The way she saw it was that there were enough spoiled surprises in the world, and she'd see it soon anyway, so she didn't ask further. Plus she didn't want to annoy Edward. But she couldn't help wishing that she could see it now.

"So, you're a bard then? That's really neat," She said. Edward smiled at her. It was nice to know that his music was appreciated by someone; especially by someone he was in love with.

"Once I can use my arms again, I'll play for you," He said. both his arms had been broken in the wreck and they refused to mend, due to his frailness.

"I'd like that. You must be very good," Alara said sweetly.

Alara was very pretty when she smiled. She lit up a room when she smiled or laughed. She was also impressed and satisfied by simple things, such as flowers, or the sky. She didn't need a lot of really fancy things to make her happy. Edward wondered what she'd think of being a queen. Would she like being surrounded by elaborate and expensive things all the time? So he asked her.

"What would you think if you were a queen?" He asked as aloofly as he could.

Alara thought about it for a minute, and the she said, "I guess it would be nice to be a queen for a day. I don't know how much I'd like it until I've tried it. But since can't do that, so I suppose I'll never know. Oh well."

_Well, I don't know about that..._ Edward thought.

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On the seventh day, and what had seemed like an eternity to our intrepid band of heroes, Tellah sensed a presence close at hand. "I think we're getting closer to our quarry. Only one more flight of stairs, I shouldn't wonder," He said, gripping his staff so hard that his knuckles turned white.

Cecil didn't much care for this gesture. Tellah was nervous; very much so. Knowing that the fight ahead was unnerving Tellah unnerved him as well. Cid and Yang couldn't see this as clearly as the paladin and his cool paladin-powers, but they could feel something (a vibe, if you will) and they grew uneasy as well.

Sure enough, as they climbed the nearby staircase, there was the Dark Elf. He didn't see them at first, since his back was turned to them. He was holding the crystal up above his head, as if holing to a light that wasn't there. He seemed to be mumbling something or other to it, but whatever he was saying was inaudible. But it was apparent that he was cooing it's praises, as he stroked it tenderly, as if it were a cat. But then it felt the presence of strangers nearby and turned to face our heroes.

He grinned evilly and said, with a slightly Transilvanian accent, "I commend you for finding your way here. But your exurtion ends here."

"Maybe not. We can still defeat you," Cecil said as bravely as he could.

The Dark Elf laughed and said, "You'll _never _defeat me! At least not with those puny weapons you have!"

Everyone eyed their weapons; Cid had a wooden hammer, Cecil had a bow (which he wasn't very good with), Tellah had a wooden staff, and Yang had his claws. They hated to admit it, but their chances of winning were pretty slim. And Cecil still didn't see how Edward's harp would do much good right now.

"Well... I've still got my spells!" Tellah put in. "Let's do this!" He yelled and plunged into battle, followed by his friends.

They fought with the Dark Elf for more than 10 minutes, but they took far more damage than he did. Their wooden armor didn't really shield them from their opponent's wrath. They began dropping like flies as the fight progressed.

Cecil, finding himself suddenly lying on the floor with what felt like a broken arm, whispered to the air, "If only I could use my sword..."

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Back in Troia, Edward suddenly sat up in bed. Something was wrong; he could feel it. It felt odd to be sitting up. He hadn't sat up in weeks, and was very sore, but the need to help his friends was worse than the stiffness in his back.

Alara, who was standing nearby stirring the deep red liquid in a pot, heard him sit up and turned around. "Edward, what's wrong?" She asked, wanting to add that he shouldn't be sitting up in his state.

"It's Cecil and the others! They're in danger!" He cried, and jumped out of bed. He was actually able to run three steps, but then he fell to the ground.

A horrified expression came over Alara's face and she ran over to him. "Edward, what in the Blue Planet are you doing! You're in no condition to move!" She scolded, trying to help him up.

"I'm fine!" Edward insisted, attempting to brush her off. "I just need to get to my harp," He said and tried to stand up, but fell again.

"Edward, please, get back in bed," Alara pleaded.

"I need to help them. Hand me my harp," He said.

Alara hesitated slightly before running to get the harp over from it's place in the corner. She didn't quite understand how playing a harp would help anyone, but she brought it to him, nonetheless. Once Edward had the harp he began playing a sprightly tune. It was pretty, but it had something sinister behind it too. Alara sat there on the floor listening to the music. She'd never heard anything like it before. It was beautiful...

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In the cave, the party heard a strange sound echoing through the cave. It sounded like a harp, but they didn't understand how there could be a harp playing n the cave.

"That music... Where is it coming from?" Tellah asked tiredly, but feeling stronger for some reason.

Cecil pushed himself up on his arm and felt a vibrating sensation coming from his pack. He opened it and took the harp out, and saw the strings twanging with the music.

"It's coming from the harp..." He said. And then a wave of realization came over him.

"It's Edward!" He cried.

The Dark Elf began screaming, and covered his ears with his hands. "What is that torturous sound! I can't stand it!" He wailed. The buzzing that had accompanied the party for their hole trip through the cave (and which they knew to be the magnetic shield the Dark Elf had put up) abruptly stopped.

A familiar voice came through the music now, saying, "He can't control the magnetic shield while I'm playing. Draw your metal weapons and fight!" The voice faded, but the music continued, and the party knew what to do now.

Feeling re-energized, the party stood back up. They all drew the metallic weapons stored in their bags and charged the Dark Elf. With the shield down he was helpless to their attacks. And when he transformed into a long worm-like dragon he was already so weak that he didn't last very long. In the end, Cecil whacked his head off. With the elf gone, the crystal was theirs for the taking. The music stopped.

While everyone else was catching their breath, Yang walked over and picked up the crystal. The crystal was a brown color, and it sparkled even though there was no light in the cave, say for a few lighted candles.

"So, I guess we go back to Troia now?" He asked the others.

"What else do we do?" Cid inquired.

"Everyone gather 'round and I'll chant the teleport spell," Tellah instructed. They all did as the sage said, and he began the spell. The cave began to spin and melt out of focus. When the world steadied, there was a rising sun on the egde of the sea, and a black chocobo waiting for them nearby.

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Edward's music slowed, and stopped. He was breathing hard and sweating a little, but other than that he seemed fine. Alara found herself breathing pretty hard as well. Though the music was sweet and made one want to dance, the time had passed tensely, solemnly, and silently. But now that it was over Alara wanted to say about fifty different things.

But all that she could do was whisper, "That was amazing."

"Thank you," Edward said quietly.

"I've never heard music so beautiful. You truly are a wonderful bard," She said.

Edward smiled at her. "If I did it right, they defeated the Dark Elf," He said. "But I hope I never have to do it again," He added. He looked down at his hands and realized that his arms weren't broken anymore. The rest of his body was still sore, but nothing appeared to be broken anymore.

Alara noticed this too (she was a white mage; of course she could tell!). "When you're _fully_ healed, you're not going to leave, are you?" She asked timidly, trying to cover up the fact that she could tell that he was, somehow, almost completely healed now.

"Do you want me to stay?" He asked.

"I wouldn't mind if you did. I... I like you a lot," She said sheepishly.

Edward took her hand in his and said, "I like you a lot, too. And I don't think that I'll leave for a while."

Alara beamed at this news. "In fact, I think I love you," She admitted, feeling silly and shy.

"I love you, too," Edward said, squeezing her hand. A moment of silence passed between the two; they didn't know what to say. Finally, Alara kissed his cheek and said,

"Back to bed now. You've had a busy day."

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_When she kissed me, I nearly had a heart attack! I was so happy; like "I've just won a million dollars!" happy, only better. Yes, better, if you can believe it. Let Cecil argue with that! I _knew_ it. I just knew it was meant to be!_

_I could go on and on about it; you know, I could. But I have to contain myself. I have to try to get some sleep, or this dratted stiffness'll never clear out, and I'll never get out of bed. I worked hard today. I know it didn't seem like it, but I did. (yawn) I should sleep now. I doubt if I can after all that's just happened, but I suppose I should try..._

_I'm so happy!_

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This took a lot longer to complete than I'd expected. Usually I can dash these chapters off and have them on the site in under an hour. But I got writers block several times, what with switching from the cave to Troia again and again throughout the chapter. But here it is, after all this time! Only one more chapter left to go, I think.


	5. Final Decisions

New chapter. It's almost done... That's pretty much all I've got to say...

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Final Decisions

Several days later, Alara came into Edward's room, leading a band of tired but familiar faces behind her.

"Edward! Look who's just come back!" She exclaimed, pulling the young king from his light slumber. Needless to say that he looked overjoyed that they'd returned safely. And Cecil carried a light brown crystal in his right hand.

"You've done it! You got the crystal!" He cried.

"And it's all thanks to you," Yang insisted.

"There's no need to thank me," Edward said.

"But I don't understand how that thing you did worked," Cid complained.

"I remember hearing that song first when I was a traveling minstrel. I learned that it was used to ward off elves, so I thought it would work," Edward explained. "I can see now that I was right," He added.

"We all owe you our lives," Yang stated.

"I only wanted to help. You don't have to do that," Edward said plainly.

"You know, I've long wondered what it was that Anna saw in you," Tellah said. "But now, I can see it for myself: courage, rising from integrity. She was truly fortunate to have loved you. You'll make a great king." Edward smiled and blushed a deep red.

"Um... Could I speak with Cecil alone for a moment?" Edward asked.

"Sure. Come one, gang!" Yang sand, leading everyone out of the room.

Once they were alone, Edward sighed and said, "That was a lot harder than I expected."

"You did a good job," Cecil said, taking the harp out of his bag and handing it back. "I think this is yours," He added.

"No, keep it," Edward insisted. "You never know when you might need some things."

"By the way, what have you decided so far about Alara?" Cecil asked.

Edward hesitated before saying, "Yes. It's definitely yes." He was a little nervous that Cecil would tell him to think about the matter some more, but he smiled.

"Good for you, Edward," He said. But before they could say anymore, Yang burst into the room.

"Cecil! Come outside, quick! Kain's ship is in front of the castle! He found out about the crystal and he wants it _now_!" He explained.

"But we were just going to keep it safe," Cecil pointed out. Yang shook his head.

"Forget the old plan. All the Troians want you to give the crystal away. We've got to go or he might hurt Rosa!" He said, sounding distressed.

The last remark spurred Cecil into action right away, as you can imagine.

"Take care," He said to Edward and ran out of the room.

"I will. Save Rosa, please..." He called back. He sorely wished that there was something he could do, but he still couldn't get out of bed. All that he could do was wait for good news.

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_What Yang said, about Kain hurting Rosa, scared me as much as it scared Cecil. I'd be upset if anything happened to her, to say the very least. So think about how Cecil, who clearly loves her so much, must have felt (and yes, I know. He can try and deny it all he likes, but I can see through it)._

_Grrr... I don't want to be here, in bed and unable to help anyone! I feel like I should be out there, helping out. I feel so useless. Oh, why, oh, _why_ can't I be more useful to someone?_

_But, at the same time, I do want to stay here, with Alara. If I leave, what if something happened to her if I left? Yes, I know, it's a bit paranoid, but after what happened in Damcyan, can you really blame me? You know, I don't know what I want right now. Once again, I'll think about it. _

_But, on the bright side, the stiffness is finally going away! Alara said that I should be better by the end of the week! I'm sooooo happy!_

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I think the ending is little slow. One more chapter left y'all! I'm so excited!


	6. Epilogue

Epilogue

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"Rella! Get back here!" Alara yelled after the toddler who was running down the hall (if one could call it running). The queen sighed and ran after her daughter. The one-and-a-half year old simply giggled and tried to go faster, but she couldn't outrun her mother, who quickly caught her.

Alara smiled at her child, wondering where she'd gotten so much energy. Certainly not from her father, King Edward, who had very poor constitution. Alara didn't have such energy either. And yet Rella had enough pep to last five life times. It was tough to keep the princess close.

It wasn't safe to have her go running off anyway. Parts of Damcyan Castle were still falling apart and needed to be fixed.

"Haven't you got anything better to do than run off?" Alara asked tiredly, picking Rella up and holding her close. Rella was getting heavy; she would be too heavy to carry eventually.

The brown-haired child answered her mother with a series of unintelligible squeaks and giggles.

"I'll take that as a no," Alara said, and went to go find her husband. She'd always disagreed with his desire to help put the castle back together, for his frail health, but he wouldn't take no for an answer and helped out where he could. Alara had helped too until she found out that she was with child. She'd have continued helping with bigger jobs later, but, after Rella had been born, she'd refused to put the baby down or leave her alone for too long. So, instead, she put furniture back in it's place, made food for the workers, and held down the fort until Edward got home.

She very much liked being a queen. She'd expected something a little different from what she got, but she enjoyed it very much. When she'd married Edward and became the queen, she'd expected to be showered with things that she didn't need. Instead she found herself working hard, which was how she liked things. She didn't like idleness.

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Alara finally found Edward in the throne room, spackling the wall. Even though she didn't like him working hard all the time, she felt happy knowing that he was willing to work at all.

"Da!Da!" Rella cried when she saw her father. Edward looked up from his work, surprised but happy to see his wife and daughter.

"How's it coming along in here?" Alara asked, walking over to the section of wall that Edward was working on.

"It's definitely coming along. It'll be a while still until it's all done, but that's just how it is," He said, scooping up another gob of spackle with the spade and smoothing it along one particularly big crack. The crack extended down nearly half of the long wall, and spread up and down as well, like the leafless branch of a tree in winter.

"This one crack alone could take you a while to do on your own," Alara pointed out, eyeing the long stretch.

Edward sighed and said, "It's going to take us a while to fix the the whole castle, even with everyone around here helping. Let's just be grateful that you and I don't have to do _all _of the work on our own; and with Rella to keep track of as well."

Rella smiled and giggled at the mention of her name, even if she didn't understand what her parents were saying or what was going on. She glanced around the room boredly, wishing that Alara would put her down so that she could look around the room more carefully. She spotted one tapestry, still hanging on the wall, on the other side of the room. It caught her eye because the red cloth stood out so much on the dark gray stone. Whatever was on it, she couldn't tell because she was too far away from it.

She started babbling, and pointed in the tapestry's direction. Edward and Alara looked over to see what Rella was so excited about.

"Is it that tapestry, baby?" Alara correctly guessed.

"D... D... D..." Rella repeated over and over, still pointing at the tapestry. Her parents weren't to sure of what she was trying to say, but she was trying to form the word 'red'.

"That particular tapestry was made in honor of a famous mage, known best for his proficiency in fire magic," Edward explained.

"A fire-mage in the kingdom of the Fire Crystal: how fitting," Alara added. Rella kept pointing to the tapestry, still trying to say red. Alara figured that Rella wanted to see it, so walked over to the other wall; Edward followed her.

When they reached the tapestry, the figure was far easier to make out. He was a tall, but elderly, and had a long white beard and a light brown staff that came up to his shoulder. He was dressed in a long red mage's robe, decorated with embroidered flames. Surrounding him were various symbols of the kingdom: a book of magic, the bright red Fire Crystal, the once-impressive Castle Damcyan far in the dustance on his right, and Mount Hobbs a little farther away on his left. Beneath was the name, "Elegar, the Great" in gold letters.

Rella reached out her little hand and petted the elaborate tapestry. It was soft like silk (perhaps because it was silk or something close to it), and the gold letters, which were just within her reach, felt rougher than the cloth.

"Ooh..." She breathed.

"I know," Alara said softly. "It's a beautiful tapestry."

"Not nearly as beautiful as you," Edward pointed out, putting his arm around Alara's shoulder.

"I love you," She said.

" I love you, too," Edward answered, giving her a kiss.

"Red," Rella suddenly said while she patted the tapestry. Alara and Edward both looked down at her, surprised; it was her first real word!

Rella realized what she'd just done and repeated, "Red!" And clapped her hands, giggling triumphantly. "Red-red-red-red-red!" She chanted, very pleased with this accomplishment. She turned back to her parents and tried to say something to them, but she found that her vocabulary was limited to one word, which she'd just learned, and that they couldn't understand what she was saying. She was mildly disappointed by this, but it didn't really get her down.

"It must be frustrating," Alara mused, cuddling her child. "Nobody can understand you for so long, and you can't understand anybody else. You must know that you'll learn to understand, and that they'll eventually understand you; but you must also know that it's going to take a long time and a great deal of work."

Edward thought about this idea (a newly acquired habit/hobby). It was a good one. "Well, it's a good thing that you've got a family to help you through the times like that. Whether you're learning to walk or talk, or learning how to run a country or get over a personal loss," He said. Alara looked at him adoringly. She really admired his ability to do that. He smiled back at her and added,

"A certain woman showed me that," he added lovingly.

"Da," Rella cooed, reaching for Edward's hand. He held his hand out to her and she took hold of his ring finger, playing with his gold wedding band. The little gold loop had always fascinated her; it was so shiny. And only one half of it was visible at a time. Imagine!

The child began to yawn and rub her eyes.

"Ap?" She asked between yawns, refering to her nap.

"Yes, dear. I believe that it _is _your nap time," Alara said, and turned to Edward. "I have to go put this to bed," She said.

"Have fun. I'll be here if you need me," Edward said, leaning over and kissing his daughter on the cheek. Rella leaned against Alara's shoulder as they walked out of the room, and sleepily called,

"Da!" back to Edward before they vanished around a corner.

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_I never thought that I could be _so_ content with my life! I'm married to the woman I love, have a beautiful daughter, and the castle's staging a proud come back. I couldn't have designed things to go so well myself. I suppose I'm still sort of a wimp... But it's not that that's going to hold me back in many ways._

_All that thinking I did while I was in Troia kinda-sorta stayed with me. I'm always thinking about stuff. It doesn't matter what I'm thinking about; I just think. I guess that could come in handy for ruling a kingdom. But also, I'm happy to have Alara as my queen. I'm not quite sure if I'd be as great a ruler without her. She taught me a really good life-lesson that I couldn't really grasp before: when you lose something, you have to move on and keep living life. I didn't understand that before, even when Rydia explained it (she did many times, and in very simple words, and still I was unable to grasp it? I'm ashamed of myself!). Or, maybe it was that I _could_ understand, but I was refusing to do so because I was so upset. I'll need to think about that..._

_But at any rate, I'm so glad that I finally _did _figure that out. I'm so glad that Alara was there to help me do it. And Rella's only more proof of that lesson. I've _really_ moved on with my life. I doubt that I'll be able to completely recover from the adventure. I doubt if anyone could, but at least I can stop worrying so much about what _has_ happened and start worrying about what's going on now._

_Speaking of which, it sounds like Rella's just knocked something over._

The End.

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Ahhh... A happy ending. I'd seriously like to know how y'all felt about this ending. The fact of the matter is that I suck at wedding scenes, I've already done one this week and I don't want to have to stress myself over another one in one week, and I wanted to go ahead and introduce a character from another fic that I'm working on (that being Rella). Of course, she's much older (14 to be exact), and she goes about her adventures with Cecil and Rosa's twin daughters and 20 year old Palom and Porom. An unlikely little party, yes. But it promises to be much better than it sounds. Really! For further details, see my fic "Offbeat", which introduces twins Angel and Sefi.

Well, thanks to everyone who's reviewed. Props to a few people for such prudent reviews which really made this fic better than it was; whether it was pointing out silly spelling errors or changing an entire paragraph, you guys made this fic every success that it is! XOXOXOXO!

Now... To work on new fanfics. Of which I have many. Later days, yo!


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